Paul LePage Copies Regulation Rollback Ideas From Businesses

by Stuart Shapiro

Several months ago, I expressed outrage when Congressman Darrell Issa asked for businesses to suggest regulations to be eliminated.  Apparently, Maine Governor Paul LePage thought Issa was not only on to something, he didn’t go far enough (h/t Laura Clawson).

Confidential administration dossiers show Governor Paul LePage crafted significant portions of his regulatory reform agenda by literally copying and pasting passages from the memos his staff received from corporate lobbyists and their clients, turning swaths of it into little more than a set of giveaways to favored companies.

Now I like to copy and paste as much as the next guy (apparently unless the next guy is Paul LePage) but come on!  Maybe we should just turn government over to the heads of the 50 biggest corporations.  At least they would raise the debt ceiling.

By: Stuart Shapiro

Stuart is a professor and the Director of the Public Policy
program at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers
University. He teaches economics and cost-benefit analysis and studies
regulation in the United States at both the federal and state levels.
Prior to coming to Rutgers, Stuart worked for five years at the Office
of Management and Budget in Washington under Presidents Clinton and
George W. Bush.